Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Warming Arctic reduces dust levels in parts of the planet      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Dust can have a huge impact on local air quality, food security, energy supply and public health. Previous studies have found that dust levels are decreasing across India, particularly northern India, the Persian Gulf Coast and much of the Middle East, but the reason has remained unclear. Researchers found that the decrease in dust can be attributed to the Arctic warming much faster than the rest of the planet, a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification. This process destabilizes the jet stream and changes storm tracks and wind patterns over the major sources of dust in West and South Asia.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geography
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Managing meandering waterways in a changing world      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Just as water moves through a river, rivers themselves move across the landscape. They carve valleys and canyons, create floodplains and deltas, and transport sediment from the uplands to the ocean.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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Securing competitiveness of energy-intensive industries through relocation: The pulling power of renewables      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Countries with limited potential for renewables could save up to 20 percent of costs for green steel and up to 40 percent for green chemicals from green hydrogen if they relocated their energy-intensive production and would import from countries where renewable energy is cheaper.

Environmental: General Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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Modeling broader effects of wildfires in Siberia      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As wildfires in Siberia become more common, global climate modeling estimates significant impacts on climate, air quality, health, and economies in East Asia and across the northern hemisphere.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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Warming climate is putting more metals into Colorado's mountain streams      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Warming temperatures are causing a steady rise in copper, zinc and sulfate in the waters of Colorado mountain streams affected by acid rock drainage. Concentrations of these metals have roughly doubled in these alpine streams over the past 30 years, presenting a concern for ecosystems, downstream water quality and mining remediation, according to a new study. Natural chemical weathering of bedrock is the source of the rising acidity and metals, but the ultimate driver of the trend is climate change, the report found, and the results point to lower stream volumes and exposure of rock once sealed away by ice as the likely causes.

Biology: Biochemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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No bull: How creating less-gassy cows could help fight climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study has revealed breeding less-flatulent cows and restoring agricultural land could significantly reduce rising methane emission levels, which play a considerable role in climate change.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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World's oases threatened by desertification, even as humans expand them      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Oases are important habitats and water sources for dryland regions, sustaining 10% of the world's population despite taking up about 1.5% of land area. But in many places, climate change and anthropogenic activities threaten oases' fragile existence. New research shows how the world's oases have grown and shrunk over the past 25 years as water availability patterns changed and desertification encroaches on these wet refuges.

Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
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Everest mountaineer's letters digitized      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Letters written by the famous mountaineer George Mallory have been made available to a global audience for the first time, in the centenary year of his fatal attempt to scale Everest.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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Feedback loop that is melting ice shelves in West Antarctica revealed      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has uncovered a feedback loop that may be accelerating the melting of the floating portions of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, pushing up global sea levels. The study sheds new light on the mechanisms driving the melting of ice shelves beneath the surface of the ocean, which have been unclear until now.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology
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The Italian central Apennines as a source of CO2      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Tectonically active mountains play an important role in the natural CO2 regulation of the atmosphere. Competing processes take place here: At Earth's surface, erosion drives weathering processes that absorb or release CO2, depending on the type of rock. At depth, the heating and melting of carbonate rock leads to the outgassing of CO2 at the surface. In the central Italian Apennine Mountains, researchers have now investigated and balanced all of these processes in one region for the first time -- using, among others, analyses of the CO2 content in mountain rivers and springs.

Geoscience: Geography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General
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New research shines a light on how expert mapmakers see the world differently      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have found differences between experienced Ordnance Survey (OS) mapmakers and novices in the way that they interpret aerial images for mapmaking, which could lead to improved training processes for new recruits.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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Warming of Antarctic deep-sea waters contribute to sea level rise in North Atlantic, study finds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Analysis of mooring observations and hydrographic data suggest the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation deep water limb in the North Atlantic has weakened. Two decades of continual observations provide a greater understanding of the Earth's climate regulating system.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography
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One third of China's urban population at risk of city sinking, new satellite data shows      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Land subsidence is overlooked as a hazard in cities, according to new research. Scientists used satellite data that accurately and consistently maps land movement across China.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Biology: Zoology Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Marine microbial populations: Potential sensors of the global change in the ocean      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Animal and plant populations have been extensively studied, which has helped to understand ecosystem processes and evolutionary adaptations. However, this has not been the case with microbial populations due to the impossibility of isolating, culturing and analyzing the genetic content of the different species and their individuals in the laboratory. Therefore, although it is known that populations of microorganisms include a great diversity, this remains largely uncharacterized.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
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Data-driven music: Converting climate measurements into music      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A geo-environmental scientist from Japan has composed a string quartet using sonified climate data. The 6-minute-long composition -- entitled 'String Quartet No. 1 'Polar Energy Budget'-- is based on over 30 years of satellite-collected climate data from the Arctic and Antarctic and aims to garner attention on how climate is driven by the input and output of energy at the poles.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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More sustainability in global agricultural trade      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The EU wants to ensure greater sustainability in agricultural trade with the Global South -- with the aim of minimizing the environmental and climate-damaging effects of importing crops such as soya, palm oil, coffee, and cocoa. However, this aspiration is often not fulfilled in practice. Researchers have developed a new approach to identifying options for the sustainable trade of agricultural products. This approach requires a refined analysis that shows how relevant the individual products are for the EU and the country of origin and what leverage effect they have. The researchers found that over 80% of the land deforested for EU production is used to grow soya, palm oil, cocoa, and coffee.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Geoscience: Severe Weather Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Ice age climate analysis reduces worst-case warming expected from rising CO2      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A detailed reconstruction of climate during the most recent ice age, when a large swath of North America was covered in ice, provides information on the relationship between CO2 and global temperature. Results show that while most future warming estimates remain unchanged, the absolute worst-case scenario is unlikely.